The Big 3-0!

Happy Birthday Jason!

(Advice: Don't put 30 magical candles that won't blow out on an ice cream cake!)

More Pictures from the park

Some badminton action!

Mercy reading to me.


Ahh! A father & son moment.
(Sorry no pics of me. I was behind the camera all day.)

Another Day @ Carbon Canyon Park

Today we spent the day at Carbon Canyon Park. We packed a picnic, sporting equipment, bikes, & scooters and loaded them into the truck for a fun filled day in the California sun!

Mercy rode her tricycle & her scooter.

Jason helped Joshua to ride his bike (w/o training wheels)


We all played frisbee, badminton, & soccer.


And of course baseball!

Easter Egg Hunt in the Park

Our Homeowners Association Egg Hunt

Mercy was very excited about waking up early.
Joshua moved up an age category this year.
We came home with lots of loot!I won!
Mercy won the coloring contest in the 1-2 age category.

Our Loss

It has been three months since my last post. Our family was very busy. I kept saying “I’ll post to the blog tomorrow.” I guess today is tomorrow.

As many of you may know, in early January we found out that we were expecting our third child. Jason and I were very excited. Of course, Joshua wanted a brother and Mercy wanted a sister.

We have spent the beginning of 2007 keeping busy with home-school, field trips, little league, soccer, and enjoying friends and family. All the while praying for, dreaming of, and planning for our new addition set to arrive September 5.

This past Monday, I went in for a regular prenatal check-up. The doctor could not find a heartbeat. And an ultrasound was done. The doctor then told me that our Little One had died. I was just past my 16th week of pregnancy.

Yesterday, I went into Pomona Valley to have outpatient surgery to remove the baby. I am now home recovering physically, grieving emotionally, and being comforted spiritually.

Jason and I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. We are seeking comfort from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We know that, even though it may be hard see right now or perhaps ever in this life, “all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).”

Duquitos!

This post is in honor of our dear friend Tony! We went over to his home on Christmas day & had an excellent dinner which he & his sister Anca put much work into. Tony cooked two roast ducks (each seasoned a different way), baked quince, and broccoli. Anca made an excellent pumpkin beer soup, & delicious walnut mashed potatoes. They cooked enough for a small army, but since there were only six of us, there were leftovers. Tony sent us home with duck, and today we had DUQUITOS & QUACKOS!! Thank you Mr. Vasile.

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas that is full of Christ's love & blessings!

Joshua & Mercy are all ready for Christmas! They have been learning "Joy To the World" so that they can sing it on Christmas Eve. They made out their Christmas wish lists and posted them on the refrigerator. And they made snowmen out of pumpkins leftover from our fall decorating (as seen in the picture).

The Children Playing

This video was taken in May, but I am just figuring out how to post videos.

Happy 6th Birthday Joshua!!

Yum! Birthday Cinnamon Rolls!

 

A Day Out With Thomas

Today the children went to the Orange Railway Museum in Perris for the "Day Out With Thomas" event. Joshua & Mercy on the caboose.
Say, "Thomas the Tank Engine!"

How Long Did It Take You To Vote?

Well, yesterday was Election Day and like a good little American I headed to the polls. Jason & I did not go until after he was home from work, so we expected a bit of a crowd. What we did not expect was a line about 80 people long when we arrived.

Our polling place was a homeowner’s association clubhouse in Chino (near Don Lugo). The building is set back from the street with a little parking lot out front. The line came out of the building, across the little lawn, down towards the street, & wrapped around to the sidewalk. Jason dropped me off to get in line. Good thing too, because the line kept getting longer. At one point I looked back & saw the line ended almost two houses down from the clubhouse!

We were told by the man in charge of the poll that they were having a problem with the polling machines (the paper was jamming & running out). We were all assured that we were going to be able to vote as long as we were in line by 8pm. At one point we were told that we could turn in our sample ballots and they would be counted! YEAH RIGHT! Some people did choose this option.

Finally, someone from the Registrar of Voters came out to fix the machines and the line started moving. Jason voted with a paper ballot. I voted electronically. Did our votes count?

In the end we waited over an hour and a half! As we drove off at 8:02 pm, the line was still out to the street.

First Grade: The 2nd Month

We had an exciting month! We started the month by reading Miss Nelson is Missing! to go along with our literature program (Veritas Press). At the end of that week Jason and I took Joshua to see a play based on the book at the Victoria Garden's Cultural Center. It was a great opportunity to expose Joshua to live theatre & he liked the fact that he was familiar with the story already.

In math we have been working on addition facts, counting money, telling time, fractions, reading & creating graphs, and patterns. Our reading covered some poetry, and we just started reading about Abram. Joshua is doing great in all of his studies! For the most part he has a good attitude about his work but we do have some bad days.

We had some field trips this past month:

• Disneyland! Very educational :)
• Irvine Park. We had a picnic lunch, visited the zoo, rode the train, checked out the pumpkin patch, & explored nature. We were so interested in the acorn woodpeckers we saw that we decided to study them for a week for Life Science.
• Pumpkin carving event with our homeschool group. We don't celebrate Halloween. And Joshua has never carved a pumpkin. But this was an interesting activity using a book entitled The Pumpkin Gospel. It describes how carving a pumpkin can be representative of God's saving work in a sinner's life. The inside of the pumpkin is like sin in our heart: yucky & smelly. We clean out our pumpkins just as Jesus cleans us out when He saves us, scooping out all the yucky stuff. Jesus puts a happy face on those He saves & gives us His light (the candle in the pumpkin) for us to shine for Him.

Well, November beckons with Thanksgiving, Joshua's birthday, the end of winterball, and holiday preparations!

No More Diapers!!!

Our house is now diaper free! It has been really for the last week and a half . Our little ballerina is officially now a big girl. She is not a baby anymore as she frequently likes to remind us. The Happy Girl!

Our Trip to the High Sierras

June Lake, September 22-25,2006 The family at Twin Lakes

Joshua fishing @ June Lake

Mercy & Jason fishing off the boat, June Lake

Joshua & Mercy exploring near the Owens River

 

First Grade: The 1st Month

Like many public schools (or as I like to call them government indoctrination centers), Joshua started school on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Unlike the public schools, Joshua is able to work at his own pace and be taught in a God-centered environment, by his God-appointed teachers (his parents). Yes! We homeschool!

After breakfast, we start with math (Saxon Math 2), which is Joshua's favorite subject. We do one to two lessons a day depending on the difficulty & length. Then we move on to life science (2-3 days/week). We plan on doing 20 weeks on the animal kingdom, ten weeks on the human body, & finish up with six weeks on the plant kingdom. On days we don't do science we are working through "Proper Manners & Health Habits" (Rod & Staff) and Memoria Press' Copy Book II.

We break for lunch and play time. And finish up the day with phonics (Rod & Staff), reading (R&S), literature (Veritas Press), & art (ArtPac) or some other fun activity.
Jason teaches the children their Bible & catechism in the evenings.
Of course this is on an ideal day. We take the day God gives us and try to honor Him. If that means skipping our phonics lesson to teach the children a much needed lesson on thankfulness, that is what we will do.
We start each day with prayer and hymn singing. I pray for God to lead our day, & for Him to bless us with patience & humility.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Psalm 111:10

Sisters In Vegas

In August I was able to take a getaway to Las Vegas with my two sisters, Marina & Brianna.We had a great time! We saw the sights, caught a show, ate great food, and sat by the pool. I am so thankful to my mother-in-law, Linda for taking care of the children while Jason was at work when I was away! Our Hotel.
Mandalay Bay has a great pool area. There are about 4 pools, plus a giant wave pool and a lazy pool. We especially enjoyed the lazy pool, which allows you to float around in a loop of continuously flowing water.
Dinner Out
One night we went to dinner at Diego's. The food was excellent! We loved the guacamole, which is made tableside so you get to choose the ingredients. Also, the mojitos and sangrias were yummy!
The Wynn
We went to check out the new Wynn hotel on orders from our father. It was my favorite hotel as far as decor. Sorry, Dad. We were not able to check the golf course out for you.
Bri & Her New Friend
We had a fun 3 days. I was so thankful for the opportunity to spend time with my beautiful sisters!

 

The Fair

On July 13th, we took the children to the Orange County fair. We especially enjoyed the farm animals. Mercy was excited to see the dairy cows. When she went for a closer look one turned and MOOOED very loudly in her face, frightening her. Joshua was able to pet some baby chickens and watch a litter of piglets nurse. Joshua and Mercy found a new friend!

Joshua's first time driving a bumper car all by himself.

Mercy dragged Jason on the bumble bees.

 

The Fourth of July

This year Jason & I hosted my family's annual Fourth of July picnic and firework show. We set up tables & chairs in the front yard, & had way too much food. By firework time we had about 30 people! This was the first year that Joshua stayed outside to watch fireworks.

We also were celebrating my sister, Marina's birthday!

Mercy's first sparkler!

 

More Pictures From the Wedding

Jason and Michelle

After we dragged Joshua off the dance floor to leave, he was dancing in the parking lot.

The handsome little guy.

The Mother & Son Dance